CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY

Proceedings of the 2017 Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium

RHODE ISLAND SEA GRANT COASTAL RESOURCES CENTER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY university of rhode island ALL EYES ON THE BAY

lobsters with shell disease, fewer crabs, less kelp, a water column seemingly devoid of life. More productivity in the open ocean than in Nar- ragansett Bay. A correlation of this decline with reductions to wastewater treatment plant effluent discharges. Organisms growing prolifically on oyster cages in the bay. Better growth of oysters in the bay than offshore. A fear that warming waters would lead to more disease outbreaks. The first set of observations and concerns was from fishermen who spoke at the 2017 Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium on changes in Narragansett Bay. The second set was from shellfish farmers. They came to the symposium seeking answers for the question of how to ensure optimal The 2017 Ronald C. Baird conditions for their industries to continue to operate in the bay for years to Sea Grant Science come. They wondered about what roles nutrient reductions, chemical inputs, and climate change play in the conditions they are seeing. Symposium was sponsored Scientists from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Ocean- by the University of ography, Boston University, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Rhode Island Graduate School Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Narragansett of Oceanography, Rhode Bay Commission, which operates two wastewater treatment facilities on the Island Sea Grant, the Coastal bay, talked about how climate and nutrients interact to create environments Resources Center, and that are more or less hospitable to different species of plants and animals. the van Beuren They also discussed how wastewater is treated before being discharged into Charitable Foundation the bay, and how they test for the effects of chemicals in bay life. While much is known, many questions remain. Temperatures continue to rise; further nutrient reductions are planned; and new chemicals are contin- Changes in Narragansett Bay: ually developed for uses such as firefighting foam, and they will make their Proceedings of the 2017 Ronald C. way into bay waters. Even now, some changes, such as the increased residence Baird Sea Grant Science time of summer flounder in the bay, defy what is thought to be understood Symposium was edited by Monica about bay conditions and temperature rise. Calls for a return to using meso- Allard Cox and produced cosms—tanks that replicate bay conditions for testing various scenarios—and by Rhode Island Sea Grant. coupling those tests with computer modeling; researching why decapods, such The articles included are taken as lobsters, are leaving the bay; and studying which sources of nutrients will directly from the talks as be the most important for bay productivity now that sewage treatment plants are reducing discharges were some of the questions that emerged throughout presented at the symposium. the day. We at Rhode Island Sea Grant will be returning to examine the contri- butions of all Baird Symposium participants to this discussion, and working April 2018 with partners and stakeholders—“citizen scientists”—to invest in research to better understand the changes occurring in Narragansett Bay to improve man- agement for all, in particular for those who make their living from its waters.

Dennis Nixon Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant contents

a resilient bay: stakeholder perspectives 2 By Hugh Markey

narragansett bay: “living and dying by the choices 4 we’ve made”—george jones By Hugh Markey

our changing bay: a historical perspective 7 By Hugh Markey

killing pathogens, not aquatic life: how wastewater 9 treatment facilities disinfect effluent By Meredith Haas

where has all the eelgrass gone? 11 By Meredith Haas

shifting species: ecological changes 13 in narragansett bay By Meredith Haas

climate change or clean water: what’s to blame for 16 decreased productivity in narragansett bay? By Monica Allard Cox

testing the future: monitoring, experiments, 17 and modeling key to predicting changes in narragansett bay By Monica Allard Cox

COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES RESEARCH FOUNDATION A RESILIENT BAY Stakeholder Perspectives

By Hugh Markey Photos by Melissa Devine

Depending on the species they harvest, fishermen and aquaculturists report different perceptions of changes in Narragansett Bay.

f attendees at the Ronald C. Baird losses in their fisheries. shell disease in lobsters taken by the ISea Grant Science Symposium Some of the direst concerns were Newport Bridge, and when you go were united by a concern about the expressed by Al Eagles of the Rhode out front [closer to the mouth of the health of Narragansett Bay, some Island Lobstermen’s Association. bay], there’s very little shell disease, were divided about what exactly Unlike his fellow panelists who and the further offshore you go, is happening and why. That was were University of Rhode Island there’s no shell disease. evident in the stakeholder segment graduates, “I got my education Lanny Dellinger, board member of the program. The five-member on Narragansett Bay,” Eagles said of the Rhode Island Lobstermen’s panel of commercial fishermen in of his career that has spanned 45 Association, sees the absence of the lobster, crab, and shellfishing years. “We had a resilient Narra- kelp in the bay as another indicator industries, as well as aquaculturists, gansett Bay back in the ’90s,” he of trouble. “Ten or 15 years ago, boasted a range of experience from said, even as water temperature was we would have balls of kelp as big 10 to over 40 years on the water, rising due to climate change. “Ev- as a pickup truck along the shores. and each held views of the bay that erything was flourishing, but today You just can’t find that anymore. In were as passionate as they were dif- we as fishermen and observers of the upper bay, you can’t buy a piece ferent. Most of the wild harvesters the bay do not see that same thing.” of kelp.” seemed to feel a reduction in nitro- He cited the rise in lobster shell Eagles agreed: “There used to be gen being released into the bay— disease in the bay as a growing plenty of rockweed in Jamestown, due to wastewater treatment in- problem. He said that shell disease off Rose Island, but that’s gone. Yet vestments that reduced the amount appeared in the late 1990s. “And if you go off Newport, the lobster of untreated sewage that overflows it’s getting worse by the year, believe is plentiful and so is the kelp. There into the bay after storms—was at it or not. I did a study last year, and is a disconnect between the bay and least partly to blame for perceived there was a 67 percent incidence of the open ocean.”

2 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY cles stopped growing on our traps How clean is too clean? Al Eagles Mike McGiveney, President of in the bay. After a year, they still the Rhode Island Shellfisherman’s looked like they just came off the Association, traces his shellfishing delivery trucks, whereas the ones heritage back 130 years, to the era in the open ocean had plenty of of Scallop Town, a 19th-century barnacles. nickname for a section of the East “A lot of our fishermen say, Greenwich waterfront that was a when they’re going to fish in the hub for scalloping. He too voiced bay, that they’re going to fish in concern about nitrogen reduction. Chernobyl. That’s a terrible thing “Are there enough nutrients to feed to say.” the shellfish? Is clean water healthy water? There are 5 tons less nitro- Oysters in the bay gen going into the bay today. That Mason Silkes, co-owner of Saltwa- has to have an impact.” ter Farms, which operates farms in Eagles pointed to what many the bay and in Rhode Island Sound, would consider a positive indicator offered a different perspective, say- year as a result of a harmful algal as a source of concern: the clarity of ing that during the summer when he bloom that shut down the sale of the bay’s water. “If you go out there puts out his cages and lines, they’re shellfish for both farmers and wild right now, as we did in the past covered with growths of all kinds, harvesters for a couple of weeks couple of summers, and scoop up and his oysters are thriving. “One caused some economic loss, and a bucket of water, there’s nothing of our main jobs in the middle of may result in a negative public swimming in it. Narragansett Bay the summer is spending the better perception of unhealthy shellfish has turned into a swimming pool. part of each day power washing the coming out of state waters. If you look into a swimming pool, lines and cages. Everything grows “How the reduction in nitrogen because of the chemicals you can like crazy. On the other hand, and climate change affect these see right to the bottom. If you go when we farm offshore, the growth things is a concern. I can’t put my down to my dock right now or in rate of the oysters is not nearly as finger on one cause of the changes the summer time, you can see the good.” or one solution, and I’m not sure same thing. Matt Griffin, researcher and any of us can, but it’s important “Everybody is saying what a shellfish farmer, says the oyster that we’re all sitting here with an great job they did in cleaning up growth in the upper bay is actu- open mind. It’s important that we Narragansett Bay, and the one thing ally better than in the lower. “I’ve nail down the uses of the bay, both everybody points to is how clear personally not been concerned yet recreational and commercial. Hope- the water column is. To me, that’s with the nitrogen inputs, but there fully the Bay SAMP (Special Area the worst thing anybody can say. may be a concern about a tipping Management Plan) that’s coming If the water is that clear, it means point with multiple farms operat- up provides the aquaculture indus- it’s dead; there’s no life in it. It ing on top of each other. I am also try an opportunity to grow, while used to be that in the summer, if concerned about possible increase giving the other industries a voice to you scooped a bucket of water, the in diseases that appear in warmer be heard as well.” water would be brown. It would be water. We must maintain a robust Dellinger worries that the full of life, full of zooplankton. monitoring program to keep an eye traditions of Rhode Island itself “As observers, as fishermen, on the pathways of these diseases may change. “I’m afraid we’re go- we’re not seeing the plankton, and to ensure that our product gets to ing to lose our fishing heritage. that’s why we’re trying to bring market.” A few years ago, there was proba- this to the symposium today. The Griffin did express concern that bly around 1,000 people who made bay is swimmable, but not fishable. reduction in winter phytoplankton their living on Narragansett Bay, We have to ask ourselves, ‘What blooms may reduce the nutrients and if you look around now, has changed in the bay to turn it available to immature shellfish that the numbers are probably 10 per- from a resilient bay to what I call a they need to survive the spring cent of that. The fishing docks that dead bay?’ increases in predation and other the tourists like to come down and “It really seems to have taken stressors. He added that the closing see, they’re going to be gone in a place in the last three years. Barna- of shellfishing that occurred last few years.”

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 3 NARRAGANSETT BAY “Living and Dying by the Choices We’ve Made” - George Jones

By Hugh Markey

The Providence Sewage Pumping Station was part of a dramatic transformation to the city of Providence and Narragansett Bay that began in the late 19th century, when water began to be pumped through the city.

PRINT COURTESY OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, RHIX171900

hen Italian explorer Giovanni the bay. By 1901, there are records low embayments were experiencing Wde Verrazzano stood in what of damage being done to what had hypoxia and anoxia.” would become known as Narragan- been pristine areas in the upper bay. “Bear in mind that hypoxia and sett Bay, could he see his toes? “The bay that we’re discussing anoxia can be normal occurrences Boston University associate this morning is an artificial bay. in a normal estuary when you have professor Wally Fulweiler used that The color that we see, the level lots of productivity, especially in historical reference and others to of productivity, that’s almost an the summertime.” She cited warmer illustrate the challenges involved in artificial result, because it’s coming water as containing less gas (ox- deciding what the bay “should” be from our fertilization,” Fulweiler ygen) and the naturally occurring like in her talk at the 2017 Ronald said. Because there was not the stratification of the water column as C. Baird Sea Grant Science Sympo- rapid influx of population experi- normal conditions that could lead sium. enced by bays in other parts of the to low oxygen, exacerbated by the “As late as 1865 there were country, Narragansett Bay, unlike addition of nitrogen. beautiful and abundant … eel- the Cheasapeake Bay or Pamlico “Additionally, the fish kill in grass beds in the Providence River Sound, has had roughly the same 2003 … acted as a very dramatic estuary,” Fulweiler said. “But then amount of nitrogen entering the bay and public event” that galvanized on Thanksgiving Day [in 1871], from the 1960s until recently, when people into taking action. The only with a 13-gun salute and the ringing major mitigation work began at the other fish kill in the bay is on record of bells, we began to pump water wastewater treatment facilities. as occurring in 1898 in the Provi- through the city of Providence.” The mitigation work was un- dence River estuary and Greenwich The waste from farm animals and dertaken, Fulweiler said, in large Bay, Fulweiler said, while the 2003 horses that had until then stayed on part because “the Providence River event was confined to Greenwich the land began to be flushed into estuary and some of the more shal- Bay. It’s important to note, she said,

4 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY “that it’s not simply excess nitrogen … there were also physical condi- tions that helped make this happen. “Even though we can dial back the nitrogen, we can still have A decline in low oxygen events because of the phytoplankton — the basis physics of the system, as well as any of the marine food legacy impacts that Narragansett web — in Narragansett Bay Bay is holding onto,” she said. may be partly due to an In addition to understanding increase in the number of the impacts of nitrogen inputs and cloudy winter days. reduction to those inputs, Fulweiler PHOTO AT LEFT COURTESY OF NOAA; said, “We cannot ignore this climate PHOTO BELOW BY ERIC GOULD change signal.” “And I certainly understand this idea that climate change can’t be blamed for everything, and I agree with that. I don’t think there’s a black and white answer for any of this. It is complex and confusing,” she said. She pointed to data that show that the total air temperature across the watershed has gone up between 1.3° to 1.7°C, and surface water temperatures have increased between 1.5° and 1.6°C from 1960 to 2010. “How this impacts our eco- system is not straightforward,” she said. “It’s not like we can just dial up the temperature and know what’s going to happen. “On top of that, we have other changes. For example, there’s been an increase in precipitation since the 1960s, [and] … the wind has been decreasing; this is actually a a decrease in productivity “long ary, and we see that primary pro- New England-wide phenomenon. before we changed the nitrogen ductivity may have been decreasing Wind really matters, because if you coming into this bay.” In fact, a long before nutrient mitigation. want to get oxygen into your water long-term database shows there has “This may be happening for a column, you want to mix that water been what Fulweiler characterized combination of reasons. Climate column, and a great way to do that as a “really strong decline” in phy- change has played a part. Phyto- is to blow wind on it. If you want toplankton since the 1970s. plankton production is extremely to mix nutrients from the bottom “How do we manage a bay that light limited, and we also have seen into the surface waters to help grow is so complex and diverse? In the that warmer winters have more phytoplankton, a great way to do upper Providence River estuary, cloudy days. Colder winters have that is with wind. there is no doubt that the area is more sunny days. If you’re waiting “Think about it: we’re warming heavily nitrogen influenced with lots for phytoplankton and you have the waters, we’ve got increased pre- of negative consequences like low more and more cloudy days, then cipitation coming in, we’ve got less oxygen conditions. Additionally, you are waiting later and later for wind available. That all will change though, the lower and mid-lower the phytoplankton to bloom. Addi- the ecosystem.” parts of the bay were almost being tionally, changes in wind means you Fulweiler said that data show fed by that Providence River estu- have less stirring of the water col-

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 5 Greenwich Bay is a productive area for shellfish, but water quality issues have recurred over the years due to a legacy of pollution and the physics of the system, not only from excess nitrogen, Fulweiler said in her talk.

PHOTO BY MONICA ALLARD COX umn, and, therefore, less opportu- bay is a complex issue, and I’ve in the water column, we’ve had nity for the phytoplankton to grab spent a lot of time trying to figure a stronger winter-spring bloom, onto the nutrients. We also may that out myself … Warmer winters with that organic matter going to have more zooplankton. Their met- mean that the grazing community the benthos. So it’s been a variable abolic rate could be increasing, they stays active in the wintertime water pattern … but the overall trend is may be chewing down that phyto- column. So, a bloom will try to that we’re going to have a warmer plankton more quickly, and there is get started in the coldest part of bay, and there’s not going to be a less time for the phytoplankton to the winter. But if it’s not that cold, winter-spring bloom whether we get itself into a bloom status.” there will be a lot of grazers in the have nutrients in the bay or not.” Fulweiler said that the reduction water column, a lot of zooplankton, During the question and answer of nitrogen inputs to the bay has and they’ll graze that bloom down session, Janet Coit, director of been called “‘a grand experiment,’ and that organic matter will never the Rhode Island Department of but we might also call it a challenge build up to a biomass that shows an Environmental Management, raised and an opportunity.” increase in chlorophyll. the following question: “What’s “Narragansett Bay is a unique “So, from the 1970s to the our baseline? We’re not looking to ecosystem,” she said, “and we have 2000s we had lots of warm win- bring the bay back to pre-industrial a fantastic opportunity to study this ters, and in those warm winters times when we had the salt marshes change, to do so together, and to we had very diminished winter … In conservation, we always ask really be on the forefront of hav- spring blooms, and we had a lot of the question, what are we trying to ing stakeholders across the board zooplankton activity in the water get to? What’s the baseline we’re and scientists come together and column. The organic matter that comparing against and, given the figure out how to manage this bay was produced in the water column complexity of everything that’s in the best possible way. Our grand was consumed, and it didn’t make going on right now, what are we challenge and opportunity is to try it to the benthos. That meant a very trying to get to?” to quantify the impacts of chang- diminished benthic community … Oviatt said, “I don’t think it’s up ing climate and decreased nutrient It also meant a decreased level of to the researchers to tell you what loading, and I think there are some chlorophyll in the water column. the bay should be like. I think it’s interesting opportunities ahead.” “We have continued to experi- the people who live here that should Following Fulweiler’s presenta- ence warm winters, but occasionally tell us what the bay should be like. tion, rapporteur Candace Oviatt, we’ve gotten a cold winter along We can try and figure out whether University of Rhode Island ocean- the way (2008 comes to mind). it’s going in this direction or some ography professor, commented: When we’ve had a cold winter, and other direction, but we’re not here “The loss of chlorophyll in the we’ve still had plenty of nutrients to tell you what the bay should be.”

6 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY OUR CHANGING BAY A Historical Perspective

By Hugh Markey

Gorham Manufacturing was one of the pioneers of Providence’s fine jewelry industry, which has left a legacy of metals in bay sediment.

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

“i live the bay.” questions raised at the symposium into harmlessness. Tom Uva, director of environ- regarding bay water quality and the Jewelry manufacturing began to mental science & compliance for declining abundance of certain spe- blossom in Rhode Island in 1775. the Narragansett Bay Commission, cies focused on wastewater treat- By the late 1800s, Rhode Island is not being hyperbolic. He discov- ment plant discharges and warming was the largest jewelry manufactur- ered quahogging in his youth, spent waters, Uva recounted the many er in the country, producing 25 per- at Oakland Beach in Warwick, ways humans have altered the bay, cent of the nation’s jewelry. Rhode and by the time he was a chemical and affected the species that inhabit Island’s reputation as a jewelry hub engineering student at the Univer- it, for the past 400 years. remained strong until it reached sity of Rhode Island, he was also a Uva said that as early as the a high of 32,500 workers in the commercial shellfisherman. For 15 1660s, the area’s beaver popula- 1970s. During much of that time, years, he lived on a boat, and to- tion was depleted by the fur trade, toxins used in the manufacturing day, he says, he still has four boats and the loss of beavers, and their process were dumped directly into he likes to “fool around with.” dams, led to increased stream flow the bay. Heavy metals from textile His talk on “The Choices We and sedimentation. In the 1700s, dyeing were discharged into the Have Made” in Narragansett Bay, land began being cleared for bay as well, with remnants of this at the 2017 Ronald C. Baird Sea farms. During this time, sewage industrial heritage found in benthic Grant Science Symposium, was just flowed directly into rivers, where sediments to this day. as wide ranging. While many of the people believed it would be diluted In the 1870s, with the develop-

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 7 ment of early sewage systems, there right up to docks to enjoy clam- used to disinfect the wastewater, were 65 direct outfalls to rivers, bakes on the shore. There were also has made the bay “too clean” to the beginning of the combined major oystering businesses in the support life. Uva showed a slide sewer overflow (CSO) problems area near where Save The Bay is indicating that chlorine discharges that would challenge water quality now located. In fact, the shells from from Narragansett Bay Commis- into the 21st century. Also, animal the businesses actually changed the sion facilities have decreased since waste, at that time, was hosed off shoreline, according to Uva. “When 1999, when dechlorination was the streets and into the rivers. Offi- we put in phase two of the CSO added to the process. Total residual cials soon realized this was bad for tunnel, the boring machine had no chlorine is now 96 percent below shellfishing, and in 1901 the Provi- trouble penetrating rock; however, the Department of Environmental dence Sewage Treatment Plant was the machine would later hit tons Management permitted limit, and built. It was not until 1912, after of oyster shells deposited over meets Environmental Protection the human health consequences of the years. The result was that the Agency criteria to prevent chronic, polluted waters became apparent, blades of the machine were being acute effects in marine organisms. that bleach was incorporated into destroyed.” Uva said that how nitrogen sewage treatment, dramatically Over the years, the area grew reductions ultimately impact prima- reducing health risks. highly industrialized, and the ry and secondary productivity of The Hurricane of ’38 further Providence River became narrower the bay is still a question, but as a altered the bay, wiping out eelgrass with fill, but deeper with a dredged result of wastewater treatment up- beds and transforming, through channel catering to significant grades, people can now swim, fish, siltation, hard bottom habitat to shipping. Scrap metal operations and shellfish in areas and during soft bottom. The installation of the dot the shoreline, processing Rhode times that were previously closed to hurricane barrier in Providence in Island’s largest export. Providence those activities. the 1960s changed flushing rates in Harbor is also the site of storage One area that remains a chal- the upper bay. and distribution facilities for coal, lenge, Uva indicated, is a gyre During that time, Uva said, fuel oil, salt, and cement. While the that has formed in the upper bay, fisheries were undergoing changes area is highly developed, environ- which has created an area of low as well. Until the mid-1800s, both mental regulation—a relatively new dissolved oxygen levels. Uva rec- fish and shellfish species were abun- phenomenon—followed the Clean ommended a holistic approach to dant. From the 1870s forward, a Water Act in 1971 and has result- watershed management there, using series of problems began to surface, ed in reductions in heavy metals “smart engineering” techniques as eelgrass beds began to die from and other toxins being discharged such as selective dredging to redi- wasting disease, and scallop beds into the bay. Still, Uva questioned, rect flows to improve circulation. declined due to habitat loss. By the where does the coal dust settle and A benthic monitoring video Uva 1950s, advances in fishing technol- the salt end up? showed reflected his optimism that ogies led to overfishing and declines As for wastewater treatment, the watershed was moving in the in commercial stocks. More than the Narragansett Bay Commission’s right direction. The film showed 50 percent of the bay’s salt marshes $359 million Phase 1 CSO tunnel green crabs and spider crabs, mud have been destroyed in the past 300 began operating in 2008, and the anemones, whelks, and other crea- years, and winter flounder have Phase 2 project was completed a tures. “The bay is alive,” he said. declined by 90 percent since the few years later, at a cost of $270 “We have all kinds of creatures 1980s. Uva noted that lobster has million. Other upgrades ran into there.” been in decline since 2001. many millions of dollars, and the He also mentioned recent animal Providence’s Fields Point, cur- forthcoming Phase 3 CSO project visitors such as beluga whales, dol- rently the site of the Narragansett is projected to cost $850 million. phins, and seals as positive indica- Bay Commission’s sewage treat- As Uva said, “Clean water is very tors about the health of the bay. ment plant, the Harborside campus expensive,” but nitrogen pollution “The bay has been negatively of Johnson & Wales University, in the upper bay has now been impacted by us over the past 350 and the headquarters of Save The reduced by 64 percent. However, years, and we continue to impact Bay, was once known as a site for many fishermen questioned whether it both negatively and positively,” fishing and shellfishing, and for its this reduction in nitrogen discharge Uva said, but added, “The water waterfront picnic grounds. Boat- has reduced shellfish productiv- is cleaner than it has been in a loads of hungry visitors would pull ity, and, along with the chlorine long time.”

8 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY KILLING PATHOGENS, NOT AQUATIC LIFE How Wastewater Treatment Facilities Disinfect Effluent

By Meredith Haas

The 1901 Field’s Point Wastewater Treatment Facility Chemical Building is one of the oldest buildings at Providence’s main sewage treatment facility. Dechlorination helps neutralize the chlorine used to kill pathogens in wastewater.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

hat “pool” smell that may Spivack, who specializes in Tom Uva, director of environmen- Ttrigger fond memories for some biochemistry, was responding to tal science and compliance at the while nauseating others isn’t from perceptions that chlorine used by Narragansett Bay Commission, chlorine. It’s from chloramines, wastewater treatment facilities to who discussed the history of human chemicals formed from chlorine kill pathogens from human and impacts to Narragansett Bay in his reacting with other elements, such industrial sewage is being dumped presentation at the symposium. as ammonia—a component of into the bay along with the treated “There’s a decline in fatal diseas- sweat and urine. Bad news for avid wastewater (effluent) and harming es once we started disinfecting wa- pool-goers. aquatic life—and leaving its tell-tale ter and wastewater,” he said. “As This brief chemistry lesson came odor as evidence of its presence. a result, the upper bay can support courtesy of Art Spivack, Universi- Since chlorine—a very reactive, beaches, and shellfishing has opened ty of Rhode Island oceanography naturally occurring chemical—is up.” professor, during the 2017 Ronald a powerful tool for killing patho- All but three of the state’s 19 C. Baird Sea Grant Science Sympo- gens, it is the most common form wastewater treatment facilities, as sium, where participants came to- of treatment at wastewater facil- well as those in Massachusetts that gether to discuss ecological changes ities. Bleach was first introduced discharge into connecting water- in Narragansett Bay and next steps as a disinfectant in Rhode Island sheds, use chlorine in dealing with forward to improve management. wastewater treatment in 1912, said the 100 million gallons of human

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 9 effects on an organism’s ability to survive, grow, and reproduce. Rhode Island has been conducting these tests since 1990 at the EPA’s Environmental Research Lab in Eastern oysters are one of Narragansett to determine acute the species DEM uses to or chronic effects of pollutants on test the quality of treated aquatic life using the most sensitive watewater. species found in Narragansett Bay. PHOTO BY MELISSA DEVINE “Organisms are immersed in the effluent to see whether it causes and industrial sewage they re- the natural abundance.” toxicity. So, if there are particular ceive daily. The other three facil- The amount of sulfate naturally pollutants that we’re not monitor- ities—located in East Greenwich, in seawater is 1,000 times higher ing for, this is a catch-all test to see Narragansett Bay Commission’s than it is in dechlorinated water, if there are any lethal or reproduc- Bucklin Point, and West Warwick— according to DEM. Mitigation tive effects,” Liberti said. “It can switched to ultraviolet light to efforts have reduced the amount account for chemicals interacting disinfect wastewater. This method of chlorine entering the bay since with one another that are more tox- obviates the potential toxic impacts the late 1990s by about 98 percent, ic than they would be individually of chlorine, but comes with added Spivack said. or things we’re not monitoring.” costs, which is why most facilities “In 2016, only 20 pounds of The species used in these tests have continued using chlorine, said chlorine from all the wastewater are native to Rhode Island marine Angelo Liberti, chief of surface wa- treatment facilities combined was and estuarine waters (including ter protection at the Rhode Island discharged into the bay,” said An- mysid shrimp, Atlantic purple sea Department of Environmental Man- gelo Liberti, chief of surface water urchins, silversides, copepods, and agement (DEM), who discussed the protection at DEM, who discussed Eastern oysters). They can be easily state’s efforts to reduce pollution in the state’s efforts to reduce pol- cultured in the lab, are sensitive to the bay from wastewater discharge. lution in the bay resulting from a variety of pollutants, and are gen- For example, in 2014, the city wastewater treatment facilities in erally available throughout the year of Newport decided to upgrade his presentation at the symposium. from commercial sources. existing chlorination/dechlorination Twenty pounds, he added, is “The reason we don’t collect systems after determining that con- the equivalent of adding 80 gallons [species] from the wild is because struction and annual operation and of household bleach to the total vol- you don’t want some that might maintenance costs for ultraviolet ume of the bay. have a separate problem or unrelat- treatment would be between 24 and “That’s the same as seven drops ed stress,” said Liberti, addressing 35 percent greater. of chlorine in an Olympic-size concerns raised about the EPA lab Sulfites are added to wastewater pool,” he noted. “The permit we set tests. He explained that species to prevent chlorine-related tox- for the Fields Point treatment plant taken from the wild may have other ins from entering the bay. These is 800,000 times less strong than ailments, so it would be hard to sulfites, the same chemicals that household bleach. That’s how pro- isolate and determine the full effect preserve freshness in baked goods, tective we’re being to aquatic life.” of effluent toxicity, if there was any. react with the chlorine that’s left The amount of chlorine that aquat- “Species are carefully raised in the over after treatment to form sulfate ic life can tolerate, Liberti said, is lab where there’s quality control so and chloride—both of which are actually much higher. it’s a fair test.” natural components of seawater, To ensure that the effluent “The toxicity tests, the bioassays Spivack said. discharged into the bay will indeed ... done ... in the past after chlori- “The relative amount of sulfate not have any deleterious effects on nation were highly toxic, which is and chloride we’re adding is at a aquatic life or, by extension, sea- what you’d expect,” he said. “You level that’s immeasurable compared food consumers, the state conducts want your chlorine to kill bacteria to the background,” he explained, “bioassay,” or toxicity, tests of and viruses, but it also kills phyto- “The chemicals that we’re adding effluent. These tests are based on plankton and zooplankton. But af- already exist [in Narragansett Bay] Environmental Protection Agency ter dechlorination, there’s virtually and add a tiny amount compared to (EPA) methods to determine the no toxicity detected in the effluent.”

10 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY WHERE HAS ALL THE EELGRASS GONE?

By Meredith Haas

The health of eelgrass, like this example from Seattle, is tied to the health of marine ecosystems.

PHOTO BY J. BREW

slide showing two different plants were struggling to find light And the health of eelgrass is A sets of eelgrass plants glowed and put energy into growing taller, closely tied to the health of aquat- on the screen. The set on the left rather than sprouting new shoots ic ecosystems. “Boaters hate it; it seemed stunted and short. The every few days. The shorter plants runs into their props, but we love set on the right had willowy, long with more shoots were actually it because it provides a protective shoots. hardier, had a more extensive root habitat for juvenile finfish and If you knew nothing about eel- system, and would be better able to food for waterfowl. It … increases grass, you might conclude that the withstand a storm with wave action the clarity [of water], and … it’s a plants on the right were the health- that could pull up the longer, “top- resource for food and habitat for ier of the two. In fact, however, the heavy” plants with less-developed a variety of different animals and long seagrass blades indicate the root systems. some other plants, too,” said Steve

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 11 sands of years ago to populate U.S. coastal waters as far south as North Carolina in the East and the Gulf of California in the West, where average summer temperatures reach 85˚F. But, as a result of increasing nutrient inputs, the long continuous ribbon of eelgrass that once extend- ed along the East and West coasts broke apart. “The geographic distance be- tween beds became so great that they can’t exchange pollen between beds and …. They become genet- ically isolated in that particular area”—preventing the exchange of genetic material that might help plants in Narragansett Bay, for instance, adapt to conditions such as warming waters. Many species want to grow on eelgrass leaves. Healthy plants grow new During experiments to better shoots to keep ahead of fouling organisms, which, unlike parasites, do not understand the relationship be- take nutrients directly from their host. tween nutrients and temperature on eelgrass, Granger found that colder PHOTO BY UPUPUA4ME VIA FLICKR temperatures could help offset some of the effects from increased nutri- Granger, a researcher at the Uni- because they can develop sulfides ents, but once temperature was also versity of Rhode Island’s Graduate that are toxic to eelgrass, referring increased it was all over. School of Oceanography (GSO), to the increase in nitrogen and other “The combination of rising tem- who discussed the state of eelgrass nutrients in the bay bottom. peratures and nutrients is just le- beds in Rhode Island at the 2017 “The bay is a continuum of wa- thal,” he said. “It stresses the plant Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science ter quality,” he added, “The poorest and stops it from producing new Symposium. is at its head because 60 percent leaves, which get long and heavily Also known as seagrass, eelgrass of the nutrients entering the bay fouled and die.” used to thrive in extensive, thick enter through the Providence River Despite this general downward green carpets in the Providence Riv- … This little portion of the bay is trend for eelgrass beds in both the er estuary—giving 33-acre Green receiving an enormous amount of bay and the coastal ponds, there is Jacket Shoal in the Providence nutrients, translating it into primary some hopeful news. New eelgrass River its name. One of the most production and pumping it down beds have formed in East Green- productive ecosystems in the world, into the bay.” wich and in the Narrow River. eelgrass also buffers coastlines Even though the state has Charlestown Pond is also look- from storm surge and waves, filters achieved a 55 percent reduction in ing good, said Granger, as shoots water, and removes carbon from nitrogen from wastewater treatment that were transplanted there have the atmosphere. Only a fraction of facilities, nitrogen levels are still all taken to their new home. The Narragansett Bay’s eelgrass beds three times higher than they have future, however, is a warmer one remain, having been compromised been historically, said Candace Ovi- that is compelling researchers like by impacts of coastal development, att, a professor at GSO specializing Granger to look at alternatives. nutrient loading from runoff and in biological oceanography. On top “Southern populations are more wastewater discharge, and climate of that, water temperatures in the heat tolerant and developed that change. bay have risen nearly 2˚C (3.6˚F). ability over time,” he said. “Look- “[Eelgrass] can grow in a vari- Eelgrass is “a cold-loving plant,” ing for genetically disposed plants ety of sediments, but it doesn’t like Granger said, explaining that it that are better suited to heat, I highly organic sediments,” he said, migrated from the Arctic thou- think, is the future.”

12 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY SHIFTING SPECIES Ecological Changes in Narragansett Bay

By Meredith Haas

Decreasting numbers of winter flounder in Narragansett Bay are partly the result of warming waters, says oceanographer Jeremy Collie.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

arragansett Bay today is not Industrial Revolution in the late A Shift in the Benthos Nwhat it once was 100—or 1800s. Nutrient reduction efforts Although the overall benthic diver- even 10—years ago. Coastal devel- are triggering further changes in the sity of the bay has declined, it is still opment and growing populations bay, and will continue to do so. relatively high, said Hale. over time have meant changes to “As the Industrial Revolution “The bay has a high benthic the bay’s geography and a greater progressed, benthic invertebrate biodiversity because we have influx of nutrients, such as nitrogen, biodiversity declined until the warm-temperate species from the as well as hormone disruptors and 1980s, then appeared to partially south as well as cooler water species other persistent organic pollutants. recover in the 1990s and following from the north. And since we have These human influences interplay decades, but not up to the same lev- a deep East Passage, we also have with a host of complex natural sys- el,” said Stephen Hale, an ecologist species more common to the conti- tems, including climate, all of which at the Environmental Protection nental shelf. The bay also has rocky are continuously changing the bay’s Agency (EPA), discussing changes shores near the mouth that are not ecology in unknown and unpredict- in the benthic, or bottom-dwelling, as common in other estuaries along able ways. communities of Narragansett Bay. the southern New England coast,” Over 50 percent of Rhode The reason for the slight rebound, he said, noting that about 21 phyla Island’s salt marshes have disap- which needs more years of data of invertebrates—mostly worms, peared, and the once vast green to verify, he said, is still not fully crustaceans, and mollusks—have carpets of eelgrass are limited to known but is believed to be, in part, been found in Narragansett Bay. remnant populations in lower Nar- a result of reduced stressors enter- “That’s about 60 percent of all the ragansett Bay due to the impacts of ing the bay, such as nitrogen and animal phyla on the planet.” landfilling and dredging, stormwa- metal inputs, thanks to legislation About 1,214 species have been ter runoff, wastewater discharge, in the 1970s, including the Clean recorded with hundreds expected and climate warming since the Water Act. to still be unknown. The majority

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 13 Polychaete worms, top, are affected by low oxygen conditions, and American lobster, left, are affected by warming bay temperatures.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NOAA

of these species live in the top 10 activity and impacted by wastewa- son for such a response. As oxygen centimeters of the bay’s sediment ter discharge from the Taunton Riv- was depleted from the sediments, and support recreational and er and Brayton Point power plant. there was a loss of deep, long-lived commercial fisheries, filter excess As a result, the biodiversity dropped polychaete (marine worm) species. pollutants and nutrients from the there, leaving behind those species “The prediction is that species water, store carbon, and help stabi- more tolerant of pollution. will come back when you remove lize sediment against erosion. While Hypoxia (low oygen) resulting the low oxygen and high organic one of the EPA’s sample sites at the from excess organic material from carbon conditions,” said Hale, north end of Jamestown showed algal blooms and increasing rainfall, adding that while some stressors no real change in biodiversity since which stratifies the water column have declined recently (nitrogen the 1990s, there was a decline near and isolates the bottom water from from wastewater treatment facilities Spar Island in Mount Hope Bay— re-aeration, is more common at has been reduced) metal and toxin an area more vulnerable to human these locations and is a primary rea- contamination of sediments lingers

14 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY from past industrial discharges, and for example, at Ohio Ledge, it stays later, occupying cooler tem- new challenges have arisen in the looked like fish have increased,” peratures than they did previously. form of invasive species and rising she said. “In other areas like Hope It appears that the summer migrants water temperatures. Island, it doesn’t look like they’ve may be moving into the bay ear- “Temperature has a direct effect changed at all, and in the lower lier to take advantage of the prey on the benthos. We’re losing cold bay there appears to be a slight species no longer being consumed water species to the north and gain- decrease, about 10 percent. And it’s by the decapods that have vacated ing warm water species from the in the lower bay where the nutrients the bay, Oviatt commented after the south,” he added. haven’t changed that much.” symposium. One glaring knowledge gap, The more noticeable changes Temperature can also have however, in understanding the appear to be reflected in the species indirect effects on the bay’s ecology. change of the bay’s benthic com- type as iconic cold-water species are Warmer winters mean more cloudy munities—how they will respond vacating the bay and warm-water days and less light to activate the to future changes in climate and species are moving in. winter-spring algal bloom, which nutrient reductions, and what that “When you look at how the fish ideally lasts for several weeks, implies for the rest of the ecosystem community has changed, it’s basi- raining down organic matter and —is their biomass and secondary cally shifted from resident species to feeding the benthos that support production. summer visitors,” said Jeremy Col- demersal (bottom-feeding) fish “Other than the large animals lie, a researcher at GSO specializing like winter flounder. In addition to that live on the sediment surface in fish population and dynamics. changes in algal productivity levels, like crabs, we don’t have the bio- “From a conservation perspective, warmer temperatures mean zoo- mass data to calculate secondary we should be concerned about the plankton and other species that feed production from benthic commu- resident species because they’ve on phytoplankton are active and nities,” said Hale, explaining that evolved here. From a productivity eating away the bloom. such production provides necessary and a fisheries perspective, we also “Without the strong win- food for shellfish and bottom fish. need to think about what the sum- ter-spring bloom, we have less “We know almost nothing about mer migrants are doing.” production sinking to the bottom this. It’s hardly been measured.” These migrants include black sea and feeding [demersal fish species],” Another knowledge gap concerns bass, scup, squid, summer flounder said Collie. “We’re seeing a shift the loss of cancer crabs and lobsters and butterfish. Those on the losing from a benthic-dominated commu- in Narragansett Bay. end of warming waters include sil- nity to a pelagic-dominated commu- “We had a very dramatic de- ver hake, tautog, and winter floun- nity. It’s a working hypothesis about crease in the decapods; the cancer der. Even though there is a lot of how the changes in temperature are crabs, the lobsters; that started in interannual variability with stocks amplified in the food web.” the nineties,” said Candace Oviatt, rising and falling in any given year, But there isn’t just one explana- a professor at the University of there are very few species, said tion. It’s not all temperature, excess Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Collie, that aren’t being impacted. nutrients, or predators. It’s a combi- Oceanography (GSO) specializing The trend lines between increasing nation of all these factors. in biological oceanography. “Deca- temperatures and increasing warm “I think a lot of us are look- pods have basically left the bay and water species shows that the fish are ing for a single explanation when why that has happened, I think, is a responding to temperature. there’s multiple explanations,” not- huge research question. Some think “The preferred temperature of ed Collie, who is currently working it’s temperature, others think it the fish community has increased on a Sea Grant-funded project to could also be predation.” to keep pace with water tempera- look at where winter flounder are ture,” said Collie, adding that the vulnerable in their life cycle to A Shift in Fish total consumer biomass is increas- better understand why this species After noticing the decline in deca- ingly concentrated in the summer has left Narragansett Bay. “Prelim- pods, Oviatt and her team looked months and declining in the winter. inary results suggest that the first at fish biomass data in Narragansett The timing of the migrations, he and second winter of their life are Bay from DEM’s trawl surveys after added, is shifting even more than a survival bottleneck. That should 2009 and found various responses temperature change would suggest. help identify the agents, causes, of to fish abundance. For example, summer flounder, a mortality. It’s likely to be more than “In many areas, the upper bay summer migrant, arrives earlier and one,” Collie said.

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 15 CLIMATE CHANGE OR CLEAN WATER What’s to Blame for Decreased Productivity in Narragansett Bay?

By Monica Allard Cox

John King, professor of oceanography, University of Rhode Island

PHOTO COURTESY OF URI

n the talks at the 2017 Ronald C. Right now, he said, climate that four degrees of warming will IBaird Sea Grant Science Sympo- change and nutrient inputs “are simply have twice that impact. sium, two causes vied for recogni- both pretty important.” “There are thresholds in the cli- tion as the primary driver of chang- Other speakers pointed out that mate system,” he said, “and if you es to sea life—reductions in effluent warming waters in recent years exceed the thresholds, big changes discharges from wastewater treat- have contributed to increasing num- can happen with relatively small ment plants and climate change. bers of demersal species in the wa- changes [in temperature].” John King, University of Rhode ter column that eat phytoplankton He pointed out that nutrient Island geological oceanographer from the winter-spring phytoplank- reductions would not have a linear and climate change expert, was ton bloom before those nutrients effect either, as nutrients already tasked with answering “How much have a chance to fall to the seafloor present in the seafloor do cycle of this change is climate change?” and feed bottom-dwelling species. back into the system, so the im- “I was instructed that I was King said that in sediment core pacts of further reducing effluent supposed to be ‘hopeful’ in my samples taken from the Narrow inputs to the bay would not be approach to this,” King said early River, the presence and abundance immediately obvious. on in his remarks, “As many of you of certain bacteria demonstrate that Sediment cores, however, serve know, when I give talks on this, warming waters do foster more as a predictive tool as well as pro- usually people leave the talks feeling growth than cooler waters. Slices of vide historic insight—continuing to like they’ve lived at Chernobyl for a those sediment cores from, for in- monitor them as temperature and number of years after it blew up.” stance, the Medieval Warm P eriod, nutrient conditions change, and While the line got a laugh, King showed more primary productivity comparing those changes to known went on to show a range of climate than those from the subsequent circumstances going back hundreds scenarios based on whether emis- Little Ice Age that spanned the early of years, can help scientists and re- sions remain at present levels, are 14th century to the mid-19th century. sources managers predict ecological curtailed, or increase, as indicated And, King said, “When you have changes in the bay. on his slide in gray. a warm climate and a little bit of As for making management de- “Here’s me being hopeful,” he fertilizer added to the system, that’s cisions based on these data, he said, said, “I hope like [heck] we don’t when the productivity seems to take there is no straightforward answer. end up in the gray area, because if off the most.” While environmentalists might we do, we’re … just rearranging He warned, however, against seek to return to a more “pristine” some deck chairs here today. If we viewing climate change temperature system, those conditions might be end up in that area, it’s ALL about increases as having linear effects— “less desirable to fishermen.” Still climate change,” which, he said, thinking, for instance, that if two to be determined, he said, is “What would “obliterate other signals.” degrees of warming has one impact, do we want the bay to be?”

16 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY TESTING THE FUTURE Monitoring, Experiments, and Modeling Key to Predicting Changes in Narragansett Bay

By Monica Allard Cox

Robinson “Wally” Fulweiler, associate professor of biology, Boston University

PHOTO COURTESY OF URI

eturning to an Eden of pristine happens in a process known as ni- treatment plants are doing with- Rwater and optimal fish produc- trogen fixation, in which bacteria— out understanding how the system tion is not a realistic expectation in this case in the benthos—metab- works,” he said. “You screw up for what can be achieved in Narra- olize nitrogen gas, deposited from something in the tank, you drain it gansett Bay, warned Wally Fulwei- the atmosphere or elsewhere, into and you try again. You trigger some ler, associate professor of biology biologically usable forms, such as sort of a threshold effect in the bay at Boston University, at the 2017 ammonium. In addition, she said, that is … unintended … that would Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science nutrient-rich deep water comes into really be significant.” Symposium. the bay from Rhode Island Sound; Christopher Kincaid, URI pro- Fulweiler, who has been study- determining which source is more fessor of oceanography, commented ing nutrients and seafloor sediment important will require study. that computer models can capture in the bay for over a decade, was, She also emphasized the value of events that can’t be replicated in however, optimistic about what continuing the long-standing moni- the tanks. Fulweiler said that in- researchers and stakeholders could toring of bay conditions. “Without formation from experiments in the learn about bay processes to make this we could not have this work- tanks can feed into the models, and the best decisions possible. shop today to talk about changes that the two “should work togeth- “I think we have a chance to be or predict what’s going to happen er” to provide a clearer picture of one of the first estuaries in the na- in the future,” she said. bay changes. tion to … work together to quan- Fulweiler called for a return to Fulweiler also emphasized the tify the impacts of climate change the use of mesocosms, tanks at the importance of the observations of and decreased nutrient loading, two URI Graduate School of Oceanog- the fishermen, aquaculturists, and major human interventions,” she raphy that were used to replicate others in the audience as providing said in her second talk during the bay ecosystems and determine how crucial “eyes on the bay.” symposium. they would respond to varying “You can provide information Like John King, University of conditions. With these mesocosms, that we don’t get,” she said, “You Rhode Island oceanographer, said she said, scientists could begin to have an intimate knowledge of the in an earlier talk, Fulweiler stated “test the future”—for instance, to bay that we don’t have. that as nutrients from wastewater see “what happens when you add As harmful algal blooms occur, discharges decrease, the seafloor, nutrients or change temperature.” new activities such as kelp farming or benthos, would be increasingly King later added his support emerge, and species changes take important as a source of nutri- for use of the tanks to help make place in the bay, Fulweiler said, ents that would feed both benthic decisions regarding future interven- “citizen science” will become even species and be cycled into the water tions. “You can’t really start just more important to observing and column to serve as food there. This messing with what the wastewater understanding Narragansett Bay.

2017 BAIRD SYMPOSIUM 17 18 CHANGES IN NARRAGANSETT BAY